News Analysis India

Tag: Shivraj Singh Chouhan

  • In letter to Shivraj Chouhan, BJP MLA claims he is victim of Jabalpur Remdesivir racket

    By PTI
    BHOPAL: The MLA brother of a Union minister has claimed he was given fake Remdesivir injections in a hospital in Jabalpur in Madhya Pradesh and demanded a high-level probe into what he said was a racket in the district.

    In a letter to Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, Narsinghpur BJP MLA Jalam Singh Patel, who is the younger brother of Union Culture and Tourism Minister Prahlad Singh Patel, said a fake Remdesivir business was thriving in Jabalpur amid the COVID-19 outbreak and he was a victim when he contracted the infection during the Damoh Assembly bypoll campaign last month.

    “I am a sufferer, an eyewitness and a victim of fake Remdesivir,” Patel said in the letter, pointing out that his lung infection worsened despite taking a total of 12 “phony” Remdesivir injections in a hospital on April 17 and then later when he was readmitted.

    He said people of 15 districts come to Jabalpur to get good medical treatment and some unscrupulous people had played with the lives of people by supplying fake Remdesivir injections to facilities here.

    He claimed a relative had died of coronavirus, adding that the fake Remdesivir issue had created distrust among people.

    “I will fight this issue to the finish, I will go to court and raise the matter in MP Assembly to ensure victims (of this racket) are compensated. A Central team should carry out a probe and the culprits should be severely punished,” Patel said.

    The MLA said he had written to the Jabalpur Inspector General of Police and Divisional Commissioner in this connection earlier.

    Queried about whether the CM had replied as yet, Patel said he had written the letter just two days ago.

  • COVID-19 pace slowing down in Madhya Pradesh: CM Shivraj Singh Chouhan to PM Modi

    Official sources said that Chouhan had a telephonic conversation with the PM during which he informed him about the COVID-19 situation in the state.

  • COVID-19 positivity rate falling in MP: CM Chouhan 

    In a video clip released to media outlets, the CM claimed quot;we have been successful in containing the pandemic quot; as the positivity rate was quot;falling day by day quot;.

  • COVID crisis: Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh to support kids orphaned in pandemic

    By Express News Service
    BHOPAL/RAIPUR:  Madhya Pradesh became the first state to come to the aid of children who have become orphans or lost one of their parents/guardians in the Covid-19 pandemic.

    Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan said all these children/families will get Rs 5,000 as monthly pension.

    The CM assured that his government will take care of those who lost their earning members during the pandemic.

    The state government will also stand as guarantor for those availing interest free loans to start businesses, Chouhan said in a statement to media.

    “We will provide education free of cost to the children who have lost their parents. They will be provided free ration even if they are not eligible for it,” he said.

    He noted that the COVID-19 pandemic has severely hit many families.

    Children have lost their parents, while aged people are left alone as those taking care of them died due to the viral infection.

    “Our government will stand by such children and families and provide Rs 5,000 pension per month to them,” Chouhan said.

    He said many aged people have lost their children.

    They have no one to take care of them and they are facing problems of survival.

    “We can’t leave such persons alone. They are now the responsibility of the Madhya Pradesh government,” he said.

    Chouhan said children who have lost their parents should not worry about their life.

    “They are the children of the state and it will look after them,” the chief minister said.

    Home Minister Narottam Mishra claimed MP is the first state in the country to start such a scheme for children and aged people whose kin died in the pandemic.

    In the evening, Chhattisgarh, too, said the state government will bear the cost of education of children orphaned by Covid.

    These announcements come five days after this newspaper started a series on children left orphaned in the second wave of the pandemic.

    The Chhattisgarh government headed by Bhupesh Baghel said the Covid orphans will be covered under the Chhattisgarh Mahtari Dular Scheme from the ongoing academic session.

    Irrespective of government or private schools, these students will get a yearly scholarship. The amount is Rs 500 from Class I-VIII and Rs 1,000 for Class IX-XII.

    The state government has decided to launch the `Chhattisgarh Mahtari Dular Yojna’ for such children, an official release said here.

    Under the scheme, a stipend of Rs 500 per month will be paid to such children from Classes 1 to 8 and Rs 1,000 per month from Classes 9 to 12.

    Children studying in both government and private schools will be entitled to this stipend, it said.

    The state government will also fund the education of the children who have lost breadwinner of the family to COVID-19.

    Such children will also get priority in admission to the state-run Swami Atmanand English Medium Schools, it added.

    Task force in Maharashtra

    The Maharashtra government has decided to form a task force to identify children orphaned by the pandemic and help them.

    Yashomati Thakur, Minister for Women and Child Development, said these will be formed at the district level.

    (With PTI Inputs)

  • As COVID-19 spreads to rural areas, Madhya Pradesh government forms crisis groups

    By PTI
    BHOPAL: Amid a surge in coronavirus positive cases in rural areas and towns in Madhya Pradesh, the state government on Monday decided to set up crisis management groups to ensure the effective implementation of the pandemic guidelines and related directives.

    The state Home department has issued an order to this effect saying such groups will be constituted at the level of blocks, villages and wards to check the spread of the viral infection.

    Such crisis management groups (CMGs) are already functional at the district level in the state.

    The CMGs will also ensure that the pandemic guidelines are being adhered to and the orders of the government are implemented in letter and spirit.

    “These groups will also ensure social participation in this work,” stated the order issued by state Additional Chief Secretary, Home, Rajesh Rajora.

    The CMGs must hold at least one meeting every month, the order said.

    “The block-level group will be headed by Sub- Divisional Officer (Revenue) and include officials of the departments of police, municipality and panchayat besides representatives of local Member of Parliament, MLA and members nominated by district collectors,” it stated.

    Block is a district sub-division for the rural development department and Panchayati Raj institutes.

    The village-level committee will be headed by the chief of the administrative committee of village panchayats and include political and social workers, Asha workers and representatives of women Self Help Groups (SHGs) among others, the order said.

    The ward level CMG will be headed by the local body’s ward in-charge and comprise representatives of the municipal commissioner or chief municipal officer along with representatives of local MP and MLA among others.

    As of May 9, Madhya Pradesh’s total COVID-19 tally stood at 6,71,763 with 6,420 fatalities, the state health department had said.

  • Covid-19 positivity rate declining in Madhya Pradesh: CM Shivraj Singh Chouhan

    By PTI
    BHOPAL: The average weekly positivity rate of coronavirus cases was declining in Madhya Pradesh and currently stood at 21.3 per cent, in line with the national figure, Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan said on Monday.

    The CM, who chaired a meeting to review the outbreak situation in the state, said the number of people recovering from the infection was higher than those getting infected.

    He asked officials to pay attention to those districts where the positivity rate (detection per 100 tests) continued to be on the higher side.

    He said ‘corona curfew’ must be made more effective, and a door-to-door survey must be conducted to identify and treat patients.

    On May 3, a total of 12,062 cases were reported in the state, and 13,408 people recovered.

    The active caseload stands at 85,750, while the recovery and mortality rates are 84.7 per cent and 1 per cent respectively, officials said.

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  • Free vaccination for 18-plus in Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh from May 1

    By Express News Service
    RAIPUR/BHOPAL: The governments of Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh have announced free vaccination for all citizens above 18 years of age if their states from May 1. The announcements were made by Bhupesh Baghel and Shivraj Singh Chouhan, the chief ministers of Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh, respectively.

    “We will take every measure to ensure all safeguards for our citizens. The state government will bear cost of Covid-19 vaccination,” tweeted Baghel. 

    The Congress government of the state reiterated its demand to the Centre to ensure availability of sufficient supply of vaccines.

    Chouhan said the decision to vaccinate free of cost was inspired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s announcement to start vaccination for everybody above 18. 

    “The Prime Minister has announced a big relaxation to the country by opening the gates for vaccinating those above 18 years. The Centre is yet to formulate detailed guidelines for its rollout, but the vaccines will be administered to all those aged above 18 free of cost, just as it had been done for others in the past,” said Chouhan.

    Chairing an emergency meeting of the state cabinet in Bhopal amid the continued surge in Covid-19 cases, the chief minister assigned specific duties to the ministers. 

    He said again that for three months, free ration will be provided to the poor people of the state, besides ensuring that migrants are assured of livelihood and food.

    Meanwhile, the Chief Minister has said that district collectors would be ranked on the basis of positivity rates in their districts. 

    Effective implementation of mass curfew should be ensured in all districts till April 30. There are also talks of launching a ‘Kill Corona’ campaign in severely affected districts.

    Every effort should be made to improve the arrangements of home Isolation and care centres, Chouhan told district collectors through video conferencing from his residence.

  • COVID-19-infected MP pulmonologist airlifted to Hyderabad; under observation, says brother

    By PTI
    SAGAR/HYDERABAD: A 40-year-old pulmonologist infected with COVID-19 was airlifted to Hyderabad from Bhopal on Monday morning for further treatment after an intervention by the Madhya Pradesh government, a doctor treating him in Sagar said.

    Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan asked officials to arrange an air ambulance to send Dr Satyendra Mishra, working at a state-run medical college, to Hyderabad after his condition deteriorated at a city hospital, a BJP MLA said.

    Dr Mishra (40) had developed severe lung infection after testing positive for COVID-19, the doctor treating him in Sagar said.

    Janmejay Mishra, brother of the ailing pulmonologist,said Dr Mishra was admitted to Yashoda Hospital in Secunderabad and is being supplied oxygen.

    “As he needs lung transplantation, he is presently kept under observation. Doctors told us that they will observe him for three days before taking a decision on the future course of treatment,” Mishra told PTI.

    He said doctors at the hospital had told him that his brother may be put on a ventilator on Tuesday.

    Dr Saurabh Jain, who was treating the ailing physician in Bhagyoday Hospital, a private facility in Sagar, said a team of doctors from Hyderabad reached the city around midnight on Sunday and examined the condition of Dr Mishra.

    Dr Mishra is an assistant professor in the pulmonary and tuberculosis department in government-run Bundelkhand Medical College here.

    At around 5 am on Monday, Dr Mishra was taken to Bhopal, about 185 km from Sagar, by road after a green corridor was created with the help of police to facilitate hassle-free travel of the vehicle carrying him, he said.

    From Bhopal, Dr Mishra was airlifted to Hyderabad where he is under treatment at a hospital, Dr Saurabh Jain said.

    The COVID-19 infection has severely damaged Dr Mishra’s lungs and he needs a transplant, he said.

    Sagar BJP MLA Shailendra Jain said the Chief Minister had directed officials to arrange the air ambulance after he was informed about Dr Mishra’s deteriorating health.

    Dr Mishra got infected with coronavirus during his duty in the COVID-19 ward of the medical college, the legislator said.

  • Some states hampering oxygen supply to Madhya Pradesh, claims CM Shivraj Singh Chouhan

    By PTI
    BHOPAL: Police officers in some states were blocking the movement of tankers bringing medical-grade oxygen to Madhya Pradesh for coronavirus patients, Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan alleged on Monday.

    However, Chouhan did not name any state. “There is an adverse situation due to coronavirus infection. It is a time of crisis. Oxygen is life saver. In such a situation, police officers of some states are stopping the (MP-bound) oxygen tankers, which is unfair and also a crime, Chouhan said in a tweet.

    कल मध्यप्रदेश राज्य के ऑक्सीजन टैंकर्स को अन्य राज्यों में कुछ अधिकारियों द्वारा रोका गया। इससे समय बर्बाद होता है और इस दौरान कुछ मरीजों की जान जाने का खतरा बना रहता है।
    — Shivraj Singh Chouhan (@ChouhanShivraj) April 19, 2021

    In another tweet, Chouhan said that oxygen tankers of Madhya Pradesh were intercepted by some police officers in other states on Sunday. “I appeal to the chief ministers of these states to take strict action against such police-officers, who are stopping the tankers carrying life-saving oxygen without any reason,” he said.

    Several parts of MP are facing a shortage of medical oxygen, which is used to treat critical coronavirus patients. Earlier in the day, Chouhan told a meeting that efforts were being made on a war footing to ensure adequate oxygen supply for COVID-19 patients in the state.

    On Sunday, the Chief Minister had said by April 30, the state will have 700 metric tonnes of medical oxygen supply.

  • MP to get 450 MT of oxygen soon for COVID-19 patients: Chouhan

    The new stock of medical-grade oxygen, whose demand has shot up due to the rising coronavirus cases, is being arranged after talking to the Centre, he said.